1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope reprocessor that subjects an endoscope to processing using a liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endoscopes used in a medical field are subjected to cleaning processing and disinfecting processing after use. An endoscope cleaning/disinfecting processing apparatus that automatically performs cleaning processing and disinfecting processing of an endoscope is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-142420.
An endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus includes a processing tank that allows an endoscope to be placed inside, and in the processing tank, a liquid such as water, a cleaning liquid or a disinfecting liquid is stored, and an endoscope is immersed in the liquid to perform rinsing processing, cleaning processing or disinfecting processing.
After use, the liquid stored in the processing tank is discharged to the outside of the endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus via a drainage port provided in a bottom face portion of the processing tank and a discharge conduit connected to the drainage port. A hose arranged outside the apparatus is connected to the discharge conduit. In a drainage process of discharging a liquid in a processing tank in a conventional endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus, timer control in which the discharge is performed for a predetermined period of time and the liquid in the processing lank is thereby regarded as being completely discharged is performed. The timer control requires a time period of waiting until the liquid in the processing tank is discharged in the drainage process to be set to be longer than at maximum value of a time period actually required for the discharge, and thus causes a wasted waiting time period.
Therefore, for example, in a dish washer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 4-38925, a water level sensor is provided at a position of a predetermined level in a processing tank that subjects dishes to washing processing, and at the time of a drainage process, a time period of lowering of a liquid surface in the processing tank from the start of drainage to a position of the water level sensor is measured, and based on the time period, a time period required for discharge of the remaining liquid is determined and a wasted wait time period is thereby reduced.